Blog
Freedom — The most valuable heirloom
"More than two million law abiding Canadians are sick of being portrayed as criminals so we are calling on them to swap their guns so we can make the old data totally useless," said Tony Bernardo, spokesman with the Canadian Shooting Sports Association.
Thinking 'Beyond the Band-Aid'
Traumatic Encounters
You've completed one or more firearms training courses, received your CCW, purchased the best equipment that you can afford, and have instituted a personal defensive regimen, and then — it happens: You find yourself in a situation where you need to use your gun to defend your life. You successfully save your life and the police some work. But, even if you are successful, it is possible that there will be injuries and bleeding wounds to deal with. A severed artery left untended means that a person has about 3 or 4 minutes to live; the EMT's will be there in 5. Get the picture? What do you do then? Best give it some thought before hand.
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Armed Citizens
Armed bystander stops stabbing outside school
"...38-year-old Roberto Barron allegedly then stabbed the woman several times in the upper body and neck area.
Police say a bystander who happened to be a concealed handgun license holder pulled his weapon and ordered Barron to drop the knife. Barron surrendered and was taken into custody by the bystander and a school district officer."
Here is yet another case where an armed citizen was able to interdict a potentialy fatal assault.
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Predators
Here we go again!
"A hiker in Alaska’s Denali National Park photographed a grizzly bear for at least eight minutes before the bear mauled and killed him..... He was backpacking alone along the Toklat River on Friday afternoon when he came within 50 yards of the bear, far closer than the quarter-mile of separation required by park rules, officials said."
The speed of a male grizzly bear is estimated to be about 30 MPH. That means the bear can cover 50 yards in less than 4 seconds. There is no doubt about it; the best way to deal with any predator is to stay away from them — as far away as possible. If you can't avoid them, and you can't outrun them, you had best be prepared to stand your ground; that usually requires more than a camera!
The Chicago way
Crying "Cease-fire" in a Gun-free Zone
The police have been suspicious of a group that uses ex-felons to mediate potentially bloody gang disputes. Meanwhile, CeaseFire has been equally cautious in its dealings with the police for fear of jeopardizing its trust with people who are reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement.
That pretty much sums it up.
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We hold these truths to be self-evident...
The Training Industry’s Dirty Little Secret
"All over this country, every day, people successfully defend themselves with firearms – despite having never taken any sort of formal training in defensive shooting!"
This is reality, and the reason why firearms have historically been known by such names as "equalizer." But, skill is still something that comes from training and practice; and nowadays, it's prudent to formally consider what can happen next.
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Hoplophobia
Associated Press Perpetuates ‘Assault Weapon’ Lie in Journalist’s Stylebook
Nobody enjoys being stigmatized by inaccurate, sometimes devious, reporting. Yet this sort of thing occurs all the time, especially when it comes to guns. A general example is noted in the fascination with the word "assault" as it is used to describe firearms. A specific example can be found in the 2012 "AP Stylebook."
From the 2012 AP Stylebook:
“Assault Weapon: A semi-automatic firearm similar in appearance to a fully automatic firearm or military weapon. Not synonymous with assault rifle, which can be used in fully automatic mode.”
For the media to transmute the military term "assault rifle" into "assault weapon" is at best a display of ignorance, at worst a display of deceit.
The verb "assault" refers to behavior that can be perpetrated with any kind of weapon; a behavior that is prohibited by statute in most jurisdictions. Something for gun owner's to keep in mind when reading "the news."
The word "hoplophobe" would certainly describe any person who feels assaulted because they had to look at a sporting rifle.
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Hoplophobia
Fear of Guns
hoplophobia, n. Irrational, morbid fear of guns (1966) From the Greek __ (weapon) plus __ (terror). An unreasoning, obsessive neurotic fear of weapons as such, usually accompanied by an irrational feeling that weapons possess a will or consciousness for evil, apart from the will of their user.
Not equivalent to normal apprehension in the presence of an armed enemy. Hoplon also means instrument, tool or tackle, but it is the root of hoplite (man-at-arms, gendarme) and thus principally signifies "weapon" in English derivations."
hoplophobe, hoplophobic.
Coined by Col. Jeff Cooper; see his book's Fireworks (copyright 1980), Chapter 3 titled, 'Open Letter: To a Legislative Hoplophobe' and Principles of Personal Defense.
You won't find the words "hoplophobia" or "hoplophobe" in the average dictionary yet. A good example, however, can be found in the mayor's office in Washington, D.C.
In a nation that has marksmanship in its DNA, one wonders what kind of upbringing some people have had.
A psychiatrist Examines The Anti-Gun Mentality
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What is that rumble?
George Zimmerman seeks hearing to dismiss murder charges
Now that almost six months have elapsed since the Martin-Zimmerman incident, the "wheels of justice" have slowly resumed turning, and it looks like someone is finally requesting a hearing on the matter!
The neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing an unarmed black teen in Florida will seek a hearing to dismiss the charges against him based on the state's "stand your ground" law.
Benjamin Crump,
an attorney for Trayvon's family, issued a statement saying, "A grown
man cannot profile and pursue an unarmed child, shoot him in the heart
and then claim stand-your-ground. … There is only one version of this
story that represents that Zimmerman was attacked by Trayvon Martin, and
that's Zimmerman's self-serving version."
Maybe now, we will finally get to hear which version is the truth.
Veritas vos Liberabit.
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Seamanship — Too Close to The Edge
Low Speed Chase was in 28 feet of water when she was hit by a breaking wave estimated to be over 30 feet high. These are some of the more interesting findings in the just-released final report by a special independent US Sailing investigative panel.
The incident was investigated and analyzed by a panel of 10 highly experienced ocean sailors, most of them with extensive experience sailing in the unique conditions found in the Gulf of the Farallones.
["As a result of the panel’s investigation, it became clear that the cause of the capsize was that Low Speed Chase sailed a course which took them across a shoal area over which breaking waves could be expected to occur several times per hour..."
"One or two had tethers with them, but none ever clipped in..... The one person who remained on board survived while five out of seven of those washed overboard died."]
Read the entire report and examine the accompanying graphics.
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Culture
Violence
Hollywood's response to the recent murders in Aurora, Colorado reveal that the film industry is aware of the fact that their constant production of visual neurotoxins and gratuitous violence can result in an embarassing awareness of their liability. The industry doesn't seem to be concerned about the violence, only the liability. And, like a WWF tag-team, they yoke together with the likes of the Brady campaign to assign the blame to someone else. Nothing new about their tactics, but more and more people are starting to see through their masquerade.
A good commentary on the subject from Albert Mohler.
In the meantime, the wise person prepares for the outlaw.
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Another example
Sikh temple shooting: Gunman had been on investigators' radar
“This happens a lot where somebody will come to your attention and you do a preliminary investigation of the guy’s activities and nothing pans out,” said Bob Blitzer, a retired FBI agent who was the domestic counterterrorism chief for the FBI from 1996 to 1998."
There is no better example of why we have a constitutional guarantee of our right to bear arms. The only way that the police, or anyone else, can stop a murderer is to be at the scene with a gun, and be prepared to respond.
Best advice is to stay out of the so called "gun free zones."
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